Art Therapy offers a safe and contained space for children to explore, play and discover. A combination of psychotherapy and counselling allows children to better understand and build:

Sensory processing

Relationships and socialization

Confidence and self-esteem

Make sense of their world

Family

Improve fine motor skills

Exploration of choices and decisions, being in control and out of control

Concentration and focus

Dealing with Big Emotions

Autism / ADHD

I hold a current Victorian Working with Children Check.

The transition from child to adult is a pivotal moment in life. I hope to offer a therapeutic relationship and safe space for individuals to better understand themselves and their experiences.

Groups or individual Art Therapy sessions can explore emotions and feelings of:

Identity

Self Awareness

Confidence building

Respect

Relationship Difficulties

Sexuality

Family

Regulation

College/graduate school issues

Social Engagement

Disengagement

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Self-awareness

Art therapies have been recognised and implemented into well-being and trauma-sensitive models of care.

Art Therapy has demonstrated its effectiveness in assisting individuals and practitioners with unaddressed psychological distress and encourages more succinct management of mental health symptoms, wellbeing and socialisation.

Art Therapy can encourage acceptance and integration of emotions, feelings and life challenges, in addition to assisting stress management and reducing anxiety by providing tools and strategies for growth.

Art Therapy for Adults addresses:

Anxiety and Phobias

Stress Management

Depression

Relationship difficulties

Life Transitions

Professional/career Issues

Emotional Regulation

Difficulties with self-esteem

Eating issues

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Relaxation

Spirituality

Identity

Grief, loss, or bereavement

Other issues

An initial Art Therapy session can help you decide if art therapy is helpful for you, and during our discussion, we can determine if individual and/or group art therapy may be suitable.

A typical Art Therapy session will be 60min and will involve a cup of tea and a check-in.

The session will transition into an art-making component when you are ready, and a variety of art materials will be available to choose from and explore.

The Art Therapist can witness the process or make art alongside you. Breaks are most welcome and the session moves at your pace.

As the session concludes there is space for reflection. Recognisable themes can be identified and discussed, however, this is of course optional and led by you.

You can decide what you would like to do with your art, and we can close with a short grounding technique.

Art Therapy sessions are facilitated by Masters qualified, and ANZACATA registered art therapists. Their role is to create a safe, contained and harm-free environment that reduces power differentials and develops trusting therapeutic relationships.

Art Therapists empower individuals with choice and control in their artmaking and provide a supportive witness for the process of discovering meaning-making through creativity.

Art Therapists understand that individuals bring unique and personal experiences as well as cultural influences to the creative process.

The therapist will not interpret an individual’s artwork, as it is the individual’s own reflections on their creative work that holds importance.

The number of sessions required will vary for each individual.

To develop ease with the process of Art Therapy, and to allow it to evolve, it is helpful to meet regularly.

The therapy can be a long term or time-limited treatment.

Research has determined Art therapy can play a significant role in individuals’ psychological and social recovery. Findings suggest that an arts-based practise has value in areas of self-discovery, self-expression, relations and social identity.

Practice- and evidence-based research is well established in Art Therapy, and Art therapists have been educated on theories such as attachment-based psychotherapy, the polyvagal theory, and Cognitive behavioural therapy, in addition, art therapists have developed a broad range of client-centred and culturally responsive approaches.

Art Therapy is informed by psychoanalysis and is based on counselling frameworks that incorporate art into the dialogue as a mechanism for working through themes that are brought up in sessions.